


sero venientibus ossa

by marvelfucker



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Drabble, Other, See what I did there, i wanted some good aangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26216710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelfucker/pseuds/marvelfucker
Summary: Timing, Toph learns, is everything.
Relationships: Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Katara
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	sero venientibus ossa

"the bones for those who come too late"

_Latin proverb_

.

The truth is that no one expects it to be _Katara_.

(no one says it but they expect it to be zuko. they expect it to be aang. they expect it to be sokka. the official leaders of nations, the “official” heroes whose positions are afforded by their work during the war. toph and katara are respected, are _loved_ , but they always found themselves fighting – sometimes literally in the case of toph – for their place at the table.

it isn’t fair, but then nothing about this is fair.)

Toph is there when it happens; perhaps that makes it worse. They find her late at night sometimes, moving earth as fast as she can. Building walls in seconds, dropping them, and bringing them back up. She’s dripping in sweat, panting harshly with every strained movement. No one that watches her mistakes this for practice. They all know it is punishment.

(the thunder of a thousand feet on the dirt ring in her ears. the sounds of the market almost drown out katara’s voice but toph’s hand on her wrist – _don’t be such a mom_ , she’d griped but taken katara’s hand all the same – makes it easier to detect katara’s voice over the din of a hundred others.)

Sokka goes out to her one night. Toph nearly blows him off of his feet with a single strike, the earth spear she’s made stopping one inch from his nose.

“I don’t think I ever expected to be able to sneak up on you.” He says softly, almost lightheartedly.

( _anything in the air is impossible for you to see, huh?_ aang asked once. they were on the run still. the war all around them, foolishly believing it would all end one day.

katara smiled, _good thing firebenders can’t fly._

 _don’t even joke about that!_ sokka had said, shuddering. _that’s it, i know what nightmares i’ll be having tonight_.

she’d laughed. she’d _laughed_ , she thinks throwing up a new wall viciously.

stupid girl, she thinks, stupid stupid girl.)

Tears fill Toph’s eyes (something else Sokka never thought he would see). She drops into the lowest bow she knows. It’s unfamiliar to Sokka – the Water Tribe has never been big on formality – but Zuko watches from the windows and recognizes Toph’s pose.

It’s the same one he took in front of his father a lifetime ago.

( _i’ll do better, i’m so sorry, please forgive me, please don’t hate me, please don’t hate me_ )

“I’m sorry, Sokka,” Toph says through tears. “Forgive me.”

(someone yells _arrow!_ and all toph can see is katara raising water in front of herself.

katara would never protect herself over others unless—)

They both know what she’s really apologizing for.

(toph’s earth wall is only half up when the arrow tears through katara’s chest.)


End file.
